A Tea Party activist in California circulated an email depicting Barack Obama
and his parents as chimpanzees with the statement: "Now you know why –
No birth certificate!"

Marilyn Davenport, who is also a member of the Orange County Republican Party, has resisted calls for her resignation, claiming she was not a racist and had only been joking.

The email sent by Mrs Davenport contained a picture of the US president superimposed over a baby chimpanzee with two adults of the species, with reference to the conspiracy theory that Mr Obama is ineligible as president because he was born outside the United States.

Scott Baugh, chairman of the county party, called on Mrs Davenport to resign from its central committee after receiving the email, saying that it was "dripping with racism and is in very poor taste".

Refusing to step down, Mrs Davenport made her case in an email to party members. "I'm sorry if my email offended anyone, I simply found it amusing regarding the character of Obama and all the questions surrounding his origin of birth," she wrote.

"In no way did I even consider the fact he's half black when I sent out the email. In fact, the thought never entered my mind until one or two other people tried to make this about race."

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Orange County Republican committee member Tim Whitacre defended Mrs Davenport, whom he called "a polite, gentle grandmother", according to the Los Angeles Times.

The Tea Party has faced accusations of racism throughout its rise as a prominent Right-wing movement hostile to Mr Obama, the first African American president.

The notion that he was not born in Hawaii is popular among Republican activists and has been kept alive in the media recently by Donald Trump, the property magnate considering a bid for the Republican 2012 nomination.